Tag: Hola-Weg

With his back against one wall of the Hollow-Way, the boy sat in quiet contemplation whilst his companion dashed up and down and side to side as only a dog knows how, in search of who knows what. The boys’ search was of a different kind, an inner connection with the naturalness that enclosed him and with the elders who had passed this way before. He had learned about these hidden pathways on a school outing but that knowledge was superficial filled only with cold facts and speculations of these magical landscapes which had only frustrated him. He wanted more, he wanted to feel the history, to be told the stories of the travellers who had passed along these paths centuries ago; to gain their knowledge, bring it into the present and to store it for the future. So here he sat shrouded in the shadows of time yet bathed in the filtered sunlight of the moment, held in a stillness that only the he could feel.

His senses were heightened by the silence of the land until slowly he could visualise the changes that created the present; the seabed that was now dry land, the scrapes and gouges of glacial giants that had advanced and retreated in battles with the landscape. Voices of the past floated on the cool breeze; voices of the hunter gatherers and of the hunted; early farmers, shepherds and pilgrims on their own personal journeys passed like ghosts as the boy watched and listened to their tales of survival and hopes. There were lessons in the voices, lessons not for analysis but for absorption until the the moment of need brings them to clarity, those enlightened ‘aha’ moments we all experience in wonder from time to time. Teachings that the boy could never have learned from those school outings or books. These lessons from the past form the internal wisdom we are all born with but like using the Internet we need to make a connection with our source energy to access them.

The boy and his companion continue their searches, each in their own way, each on separate journeys, yet always together within the spirit of togetherness that is only found in nature. Enjoy your own journeys, have fun connecting with the spirits of your ancestors, the living landscapes of the past and ever present moments that you share with all that is. It is here that you will find the key to wisdom; a book or teacher can truly inspire you but only a self-felt physical and spiritual experience can go beyond that and endure within you.

In life we are presented with many pathways, some are already set out before us, some we discover with guidance from others and some are presented to us, signposted along the path we are already travelling.In the past I have had information presented to me from family and friends, books, videos and self-help seminars/courses I’ve taken an interest in and signed up for from time to time. All of this information has been of value to me in taking my chosen path, some of greater value than others but all giving me the priceless gift of choice, choice to either follow a new pathway or remain along my existing route. Possibly like me, you too have made some good and bad choices throughout your life, I know that I’ve made some bloody awful ones so don’t feel bad about it. Those bad choices can be turned into lessons with the help of ‘Hidden Pathways’.

So what is a Hidden Pathway? ~ It’s the route to those questions that we alone can answer. Those books and videos have to be put aside, no one else’s answers will do, we need to sit this exam by our-selves. Sometimes we accidentally stumble across these pathways like an unexpected gift or we learn to read the signs, the signs that lead us to the information laying dormant deep inside of us which has been waiting quietly, patiently, to reawaken, capable once again to heal and harmonise our minds, bodies and souls. Our emotions and feelings, those tingles that run up and down our spines, the butterflies in our stomachs, those things we call gut feelings are all signs we so often ignore; until it’s too late!Ignoring those signs can and eventually will lead to failure and heartbreak appearing time after time in our lives. Failures, broken relationships, depression, reoccurring illnesses, hatred and anger. These are all the results of not heeding the inner signposts and maintaining our struggle along an ill chosen path instead.

There are also hidden pathways in the physical world, most notably in Nature, which in themselves are signposts guiding us to that all important connection with our own inner-pathways. Here in Dorset where I am fortunate to live, the land itself is a Gateway into a world of hidden paths, with its foundations laid down in the early Jurassic period and moulded over the millennia by both man and nature. Here you will discover the Hollow Ways, sunken roads and lanes derived from the old English word ‘hola weg’, a series of paths created from ancient tracks spreading across the evolving landscape. Developed as the traffic of time increased from hunter gatherers seeking an existence to perhaps a single lonely pilgrim making his way from an ancient sacred site to another. Herdsmen leading their stock to and from seasonal pastures. These routes continued to grow, bringing goods and people together for all manner of reasons and whilst transport advanced they became highways for wagons, carriages and coaches whilst with the help of natures natural erosional forces they wore lower and lower into the landscape. Eventually the vegetation on either side of these trenches took over to create an ethereal canopy by day and a sinister pit of darkness by night.

Unfortunately in these modern times more and more soul- less major highways, motorways and railways have taken their place, their purpose remains the same of course and they provide us with the benefits we all demand today. But the heart and soul has been ripped out of them, leaving the traveller so disconnected from the environment as they move far too quickly from place to place they are no longer able to read the signs of their ancestors creation. Those signs that lead to the hidden pathways of your soul. However all is not lost my friends, get out of the car and walk, walk away from modernity for a time and enter the Gateway. Soak up the landscape, look beyond the surface image in front of you and the signs will emerge, the ‘hola weg’ will take you within your-self, to a land where questions are asked of you and answered by unworldly sights, sounds and emotions.